The sermon discusses the importance of worshiping God and the foundation of creation. It explores the prevailing worldview on abortion and presents a biblical case for why abortion is considered a sin. The sermon emphasizes that every human being is an image bearer of God, and that life begins in God's heart before conception. It also highlights the value of children and encourages grace and compassion in discussing the topic of abortion.

I think it's important for us to know what we're doing here. What are we doing? We're worshiping the Lord God and he made it possible through his son Jesus Christ for us to actually come into his presence and to worship Him. What a joy and what a privilege that is for us to do. So let us get our hearts ready to receive God's Word and we will read a few verses if you want to turn with me to Genesis, in Genesis chapter 1.

And I'm going to read just a few verses. I'm not going to read the whole passage. But if you go to the very beginning, the very first verse, we should know by heart right now, in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And as we started two or three weeks ago, that is the foundation from which everything that we say in regard to how we live in this world comes from. That is the foundation.

We have to start there. So that's the first verse I want us to keep in mind. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And then when you go down in chapter 1, you get to verse 26, we find the specific way in which God created man. In verse 26 we see that then God said let us make man in our image after our likeness and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth so God Created man in his own image in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them.

So very straightforward, this is how God created us. We are image bearers of the living God. And then if you turn to chapter 2, well let's read from verse 5 to 7. When no bush of the field was yet in the land, and no small plant on the field had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground. Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.

So brothers and sisters, this morning I'm going to speak on the topic of abortion. And if you've been here the past two weeks you would know that I had to lay the foundation first. That's why we started in Genesis chapter 1. It's important for us to understand as a church that God is the creator of all things. We live in his world, we don't live in our own world, we're not the masters of the universe, God is.

And then last week, by God's grace, we also looked at how this world is now marred by sin. The fall means that that which God has created in the beginning is now marred by our choices when we decided to reject God's lordship over us. So if you then live in this world, as you and I now do, we see that things are not as God created them. We see that there is pain, there's suffering, there's death, and things are not in line with God's will. Well, we also do need to understand that God is victorious and still Lord over this universe.

I made that point clear last week. We shouldn't think that the fall meant that God lost anything. God didn't lose a thing. God is still God, God is still Lord, he's still the one who owns the whole universe. It is just our experience now in the world which he created means that you and I are going to face various difficulties because of sin.

Now when it comes to this topic of abortion there's something that I believe is vitally important to say before I even start. This topic we are looking at this morning is not one that is detached from our emotions. That would be impossible. So no matter what side of the debate, if you are still in this world and you have a debate over is abortion good or at what time is an abortion good and leave those things just there for a moment I think all of us can can acknowledge the fact that this is an emotionally stressful topic to discuss and for none probably more so than maybe someone who might be here this morning who have had an abortion. I want to make it clear from the start that God's grace and God's love towards sinners might mean that for you even this morning you might receive the forgiveness that the Lord Jesus Christ extends to you because of this sin, but also that God will give healing, that God would work on our conscience, that God would deal with the guilt that we carry around, the sorrow, the anguish, and I want us to make that clear from the beginning.

I do not want to be insensitive with this topic before us, but I must make a biblical case this morning for why we as believers and Christians say so adamantly and clearly that abortion is a sin. This is a deception from the devil himself. It is part of this world that is broken because of our sin. But again, remember, please do remember that we also preach the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ. We do not set out here to offend anyone this morning or to hurt anyone or to put guilt on anyone or to be angry at anyone.

We want to make sure that we understand what is God's will with regard to that little child that is being formed in a mother's womb and why that child has value and why we should steer away from even thinking that we as human beings have the right to abort. Okay, let's start with a quote from a book. Scott Klusendorf wrote a book called The Case for Life, and this is where I get this quote from and I'll read it to you. He says the debates on abortion are only contentious because they involve deep worldview commitments that get to the heart of who and what we are as people. But the debate itself is not complex.

Either you believe that each and every human being has an equal right to life or you don't. Christians provide one answer. Although humans differ in their respective degrees of development, they are nonetheless equal because they share a common human nature that bears the image of their creator. Humans have value simply because they are human. Now let me lay out for you here the prevailing worldview on this topic.

And many of you are probably well familiar with it, but for those who might still discover how the world sees these things and how they speak about things, I think it's important for us to lay it before you. So according to the to the pro-abortion worldview that we find all over, human life has only value after birth. While in the womb that human being is considered to have no value at all. This is the prevailing worldview. As a matter of fact, the mother is given the right to kill that human with impunity.

She won't be prosecuted, she won't be reprimanded, she won't be rebuked. And she's often encouraged to do so. They say abortion is a human right. So the question that we need to ask then as a church, as people who find ourselves understanding Genesis 1 verse 1 that this is God's world and we live in it, the question that we need to ask ourselves then is this is abortion a woman's rights issue if the world says it is how do we respond or taking into consideration that this is God's world are we to look at the human in the womb as God describes it to be, and I think we understand where we fall in this deliberation. We understand that we need to view the world as God sees it and as God describes it.

So in a fallen world, empty of any accountability to God, where man defines his own moral values, we must admit that the argument that they put forward makes sense. It makes sense in that worldview. It actually fulfills all the criteria akin to Adam's fallen nature. Let me explain that, and I hope you don't hear me saying I agree with that, that's the opposite, but In Adam's world, in a world marked by sin, it makes perfect sense. Because if you take God out of your thinking, what prevents you from doing all kinds of evil?

It allows for promiscuous living to start with, so sleeping around to satisfy the lush of the flesh, which is perfectly acceptable within a moral structure that man designs for himself without God, well that's allowed. It also satisfied the selfishness of a man who does not care about the consequences of his actions. Well, if a child is produced, I can just walk away or insist that the child is aborted. It's so akin to Adam. It satisfies the selfishness of the woman who sees a child to be an interruption in her life, an inconvenience, a possible hindrance for her plans that she might have made in her life.

It is an easy way to avoid the shame, is it not? Just get rid of the baby or to get out of a lifelong commitment and possible the financial burdens that it might be to that woman. It also, when you think of it, it circumvents the divine curse of the pain that comes with childbirth. You see, their argument coming from their worldview is a worldview that has no place for God, and therefore for them it makes sense. They have already rejected God, they have already rejected God's law, they stand therefore as arbitrage of what is good and what is evil, what is acceptable and what's not, they have no biblically informed moral conscience, so they can commit this grievous sin in the name of women's rights, or my body, my choice.

This is just another fig leaf they put on trying to hide their sin. The other arguments still true to Adam's nature in this worldview are formulated to convince us that abortion is actually a kind thing to do. Again Scott Glusendorf in his book he writes a dialogue between two Christian sisters and they talk about another one, another Christian who's considering an abortion. And at one point he says that the Christian is talking to the other one, well let me read it to you, he says, the one says to the other one, she has a right to make her own private decisions. Besides, how's she going to care for this baby?

She doesn't have money, she's 19 years old. There are so many abused and abandoned kids out there in the world. Who's going to pay for them all? Besides, she could become dirt poor trying to raise this kid on her own she says. She needs to think about all this and then he adds in this dialogue it's not our place to judge her.

You know Arguments like these are designed to give a kind twist to this horrible sin. That last phrase also needs to be noted, that he mentions that it's not our place to judge. It's not our place to judge, is it? Brothers and sisters, it is our place to judge, because you and I have the Word of God in our hand and God judges the living and the dead, and it is our duty as prophets to warn people against sin, but also to point them to the wonderful, wonderful gift of salvation and forgiveness to be found in Jesus Christ. You see, they even promote this idea that young underage girls can get an abortion without telling their parents.

You know, that's law in New Zealand. It's not your place to know, mum or dad. They will just judge their child in her most desperate need. So keep the parents out. That's the philosophy of the world.

It's as if the whole system is set up to prevent godly counsel and God's structure within society to help that young girl. Let me read to you on the Ministry of Health's webpage, they write, they say, it is up to you as the pregnant person, well there's already a problem there, pregnant person, to decide if you want to have an abortion. You do not have to tell your partner, your whanau, or friends you are having an abortion. But you may find it helpful to talk to someone you trust. You do not have to have counselling as part of accessing abortion services.

But it must be available and offered to you. Fano may support you during counseling sessions, they may, so you may abort the baby because you want to save it from a bad life and go ahead and no one should try to stop you or offer another solution well that's very kind of you thank you you see what's happening in the world Other arguments similar to this one are common in this debate, like be kind, consider this poor lady's mental health, consider her financial instability, her career prospects, shame within the family, the way the baby might have been conceived could be a problem, and a thousand other arguments are made in defense of abortion because of the worldview. Some would even go so far as to say, and listen to this, that they can't bring a child into this world because of the carbon footprint they leave on the earth. You think this is silly? Let me read to you.

This is from a professor, Professor Robert Proctor and Londa Scheibinger. They are both professors at Stanford University. Let me read to you what they say. They say too often ignored in devising solutions to slow global warming is the fact that a sizable number of pregnancies are unintended, and many of the resulting births are unwanted. According to Guttmacher Institute, as many as 121 million pregnancies each year are unintended and an estimated 10% of all births are unwanted.

A consequence of either sexual assault or some other form of coercive conception including the unavailability of effective birth control or abortion. He says by one recent estimate, some 270 million women of childbearing age have an unmet need for modern contraception. Avoiding unwanted births by making contraception and abortion freely available globally would significantly reduce births and therefore over the long term, human generated carbon emissions. If the world's total population were eventually reduced by 10 percent, this would reduce carbon emissions by 3.6 billion tons per year, so let's kill more babies. You see, we must see how the world views this topic.

We must see through this evil deception, because at the heart of their argument is this. My decision intentionally ignore my accountability to God who created me. That's at the heart of the argument. They reject God's sovereign rights over all life, including their body and the new life created in that body. Abortion is a rejection of God's Lordship over his creation.

Let that sink in. Abortion is a rejection of God's Lordship over his creation. The other important aspect of their argument therefore is what is the child? At what stage in the development from conception to childbirth does this child have value? That's one of the arguments that they need to bring.

Let me just quickly add something here because I am really concerned for us as Christians how quickly we go to their argument and try to answer them where they're at. I don't know if you've noticed but in the beginning when the argument about when does life start and when is this human being, a viable human being, we as Christians, we had an answer for that. You remember what it was? At conception, that's what we said, wasn't it? Well what's happening right now?

Let me read to you again New Zealand law. New Zealand law does not set an upper time limit to have an abortion. Abortions for pregnancies over 20 weeks are very rare, They say, and New Zealand does not have many doctors who provide them, but abortions after 20 weeks are mostly wanted pregnancies, but some people may seek abortion after 20 weeks for personal, medical or mental health reasons. That's New Zealand law. In other countries in the world you know that the question about the viability of that human being could have been at one stage 22 weeks.

If a child is born after that, there is medical help could still keep that child alive. So they consider that a viable time. Before that you can abort. Do you know what the argument is now? A second before the child is born you can abort it.

There's even such a thing, and forgive me, but it's called partial birth abortion. You know, brothers and sisters, we need to insist on our old true arguments that life begins, at least life in our experience, begins at conception. And that this life is a human life with inherent value. Whether it is a day-old embryo, a 12-week-old fetus, or a newborn baby, it is God's child, it is God's creation. I will soon show that God's view on the matter actually goes further back than conception, and that's where we are actually supposed to be.

There's much more I can say about the world view, but I'll leave that for you to consider in your own reading. It's sick. But let's go to the Word. If we start and we're back in Genesis chapter 1, we read that God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and the birds of the heaven, over the livestock and over the earth, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, so God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him. If you know anything about the Hebrew language or the way in which you emphasize things, this is a good example of how you do it.

God created man in his own image, in his own image God created him. It is to emphasize that every single human being, you and me included, are image bearers of God. There is an inherent value to you because you are created in the image of God. And then in Genesis 2 verse 7 we read, Then God, the Lord God, formed the man out of the dust of the earth and he breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. That's important.

And man became a living creature. It is not just that God said, okay, there's life and there life is. There is an action from God's very breath causing us to have life. So from these three verses we get the first few irrevocable truths that we need to apply to the topic of abortion. First of all, man is an image bearer of the living God.

Secondly, that God-formed man goes without saying. And then God gives life, he breathes life into us. So every human being has this distinct feature to his or her nature. We are image bearers of God, created as physical beings then given life, that life being the very life of God. So to kill a human being would mean that you touch that which is holy and you destroy that which belongs to God and belongs to God in a very, very unique and intimate way.

But some would say that, and that's all fair, but the embryo is not a human being yet. They say personhood only comes after birth. That the Cells of an embryo are just that, it's a clump of cells. Maybe you've even heard that phrase. Well brothers and sisters, turn with me to Psalm 139.

Alan read this already, but I want us to see this, because this is where we need to go in our understanding of that human being being woven together in a mother's womb verse 13 we read Psalm 139 for you formed my inward parts you knitted me together in my mother's womb I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works, my soul knows it very well, my frame was not hidden from you when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth and listen to verse 16 your eyes saw my unformed substance in your book were written every one of them the days that were formed for me when as yet there was none on them. Do you know where life begins? I'm gonna shock you, it doesn't even start with conception. It starts in the heart of God.

Your life, your existence, your very being has already been in the heart of God before conception. God knew you even before you were born, even before you were an embryo, even before you were a fetus, even before the twinkle in your mom and dad's eyes, God knew you. And this, this is the reason why you and I at this topic, for this question of abortion and say you do not touch that which belongs to God. But you might say well that was just poetry that was just David explaining his understanding of the world well no it's more than that look at Galatians this is the Apostle Paul Galatians 1 verse 15 to 16 Paul writes and he says but when he who had set me apart before I was born and who called me by his grace was pleased to reveal his son to me in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles. What does Paul say?

Paul says here I am now, I've been called to preach the gospel to the Gentiles and this ministry that I have to preach the gospel is something that God has set me apart for before I was born. Well, you guys who are getting married or who are newly married, considering marriage, You don't even know yet what that child that the Lord might bless you with is going to be. A little one on your lap. Who knows? The Lord has already set his days or her days in his mind to fulfill his purposes with that child.

Isn't that wonderful? But you say okay well we have David and we have Paul but is there anything more on this topic? Yes, let me show you Jeremiah. In Jeremiah chapter 1 verse 5 the prophet again says the same he says before I formed you in the womb I knew you and before you were born I consecrated you I appointed you a prophet to the nations how did God view Jeremiah well Jeremiah is probably an older man right now he's a prophet of the Lord Jeremiah says or God says to Jeremiah Jeremiah before you were born I have already known you before you were born I already consecrated you for this work." Ephesians chapter 1 verse 3 to 6 the Apostle Paul again he says, blessed be the Father, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. Do you know that not even before you were born were you known by God, but you were known by God before he created the heavens and the earth.

This is how precious you are as a human being. Brothers and sisters, life in God's eyes does not begin at conception. In the physical realm in which we experience life, yes he does, but the life of every human being has its genesis in God's heart. He already is known by God. Our beginning, our development in the womb, our birth, our path through life, our death even, and even our existence after death are all set in God's sovereign will and plans for our lives.

You cannot read Psalm 139 and miss this. But let me drill down on this by giving you an illustration to point you to the to the true value of what this actually means. Let me ask you from what point in history was it planned that the Lord Jesus Christ would become the incarnate Son? Let's make it easy. Did Jesus become Jesus at the time of his birth?

In other words, from the time he became a so-called viable human being? Or was he known by the Father to be the incarnate Son, to be only at conception? We can't stop there could we? I mean we have to go back and we have to read the whole of the Bible and it says that from the beginning God existed in three persons and the son is present and he was already known by God the Father and in time he became the human being that were to take upon himself our guilt. 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 20 we see this is exactly what Peter describes.

He says, he was foreknown before the foundation of the world. This is our Lord Jesus Christ. He was already known by God the Father. So if you hold to that position that I hope none of you do, that the value of a human life only begins at conception or even birth, then you will need to tear out every page of your Old Testament, until you get to the passage in Luke chapter 2 that describes the birth of Jesus, because now Jesus is the one who can take away our sins. All the promises that went before us, then useless, is only when he's truly a valuable human being that we can look at him for our hope.

You see, we cannot do that. And then you need to take away everything else that is said of the Lord Jesus and his eternal existence, and the fact that he is the God-man who came to die for our sins. Now imagine, dear brothers and sisters, just imagine what devastation to mankind it would have been if Mary had our modern anti-life pro-abortion worldview. Imagine! She had to deal with the shame of a very unorthodox pregnancy.

Can you imagine the questions that were asked to Mary, to Joseph, to her family? She had to deal with that. She must have thought about the financial cost of raising a child in Bethlehem, or in Galilee that is. Her young age, I mean she was young. She's not ready for a child.

By today's standards she would have been the perfect candidate to have an abortion. Do not forget the baby killers were very active in her day and age as well, do you remember? They were killing babies up to the age of two years old, just so that the serpent that keeps on striking at the heel of the woman's seat can have his way. And that is what's happening in abortions. Aren't you grateful for the faith and the joy that was in Mary's heart to accept the will of God for her life?

Aren't you glad that she said I'm not going to listen to what the world says but I'm going to keep this beautiful child and this is a very special one because God himself told me he is going to be. Aren't you glad that this son Jesus Christ was not destroyed in his mother's womb, have no illusions. Abortion, as I said, is a sin where the victim is an innocent child and it is a sin where God, who created, gave life, whose image is born in that child, he is gravely offended when it happens. It is not a convenient solution to some mistake that was made, but it is an addition of more guilt and more sin on that already burdened soul. Now remember, the Christian who lives with an understanding that this is God's world, he also then lives with the realization that living According to God's will in this world would bring meaning and has a purpose and will be joyful and you will be truly satisfied.

Your chief end is to do what? Isn't it to glorify God and to find joy in him? Well follow him in this as well. This applies to the way in which we care for the image bearers of God in the womb. Now as the world screams out and they convince each other that children are a burden, a hindrance, an inconvenience.

What does God say about children? Just two short passages I want to read you, know them well. Matthew chapter 19 verse 13 to 14 Jesus stands there and the disciples bring these, well, the kids are there and the disciples try to hinder them from seeing Jesus and Jesus rebukes them. And children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray and the disciples rebuke the people. But Jesus said, Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for too such belong the kingdom of heaven." You know the view that God has of our little kids?

Let me say you something very personal. One of the reasons why we as a congregation are so adamant that children sit in the worship service is this. We want them to be here so that they can enjoy the blessings of being under the teaching of God and his word. We don't want to hinder them from coming and sitting and hearing the Lord Jesus as we preach and as we read his word. They're not a hindrance.

Children are not a hindrance. They noisy? Yes. They fidgety? Absolutely.

But they're not a hindrance, are they? Any one of you who are adult, have you been one? You must have. One of my sweetest memories as a young child is sitting next to my dad in church. My dad was a big man and as I fiddled and, you know, fidgeted with things, he would grab me with his hand and he would hold my hand so tight until I submitted.

And then I remember leaning on my dad's shoulder, sometimes falling asleep, not advisable but it happened, but falling on his shoulder listening to the sermon. It's precious to remember those things. My dad and my mom saw it important to bring me to church and to sit there next to him. Brothers and sisters, you and your children, please know it's good to be in church. Amen?

Yes. It's wonderful. In Psalm 127 verse 3 to 5 we know this Psalm well, Behold children are a heritage from the Lord. You've inherited them from God because they don't belong to you ultimately, They belong to God. The fruit of the womb is a reward.

Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them. He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies at the gate. Every child that God gives us is a blessing. What does the world tell you?

The world tells you get rid of the kids, ship them off, re-educate them, do with them whatever you please, but please do not let them understand that they are valuable in the eyes of God. No, you know children can be hard work, but God tells us in his word that they are precious. How children are precious and they are precious from the moment when they are conceived. And in the hearts of and in the heart of God they have been precious all along. They are a gift, they belong to him.

So embrace with great joy the role that you are playing in in bearing a child if you're a woman, raising that child and seeing that child become adults who worship and follow the Lord Jesus Christ. Well let's close with some just three Important practical things that I think we need to consider. Number one, what if you had an abortion in the past? Can God forgive me? I think I made it clear.

If you read through the scriptures there's no sin that cannot be covered by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ except the sin where you completely deny and reject the Lord Jesus. The Apostle Paul was a murderer. He stood by when Christians were being stoned. And it was in the grace and the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ that he who called himself the chief of sinners was saved. So if you or anyone in your family struggle with these things, please remember that there is grace and forgiveness to be found in Jesus Christ.

Here's the hope. And don't be shy, dear Christians, to share this with them. Share this with them. Second question, what should we be involved in when it comes to debating this in the world? There's a lot of things happening in the Christian world that sometimes I'm ashamed of.

I think when it comes to abortion, sometimes the way in which we speak about these things in the world is shameful. We can be just as violent and adamant and insensitive as the world could be against us. I do believe that we need to be involved in this debate, amen. We cannot just stand on the side like the Apostle Paul as Christians were being stoned. We need to be involved in saying what the Word of God says about the value of human life.

But we do need to learn how to do that with grace and compassion and in truth. And sometimes that truth can be rejected. Sometimes you will be the one—we had a dear lady in our church, she was marked down at university because of her position on abortion. It's got to be tough where you study, it's got to be tough where you work. Are you willing to pay that price for the sake of honoring the Lord Jesus Christ?

You might lose friends. I pray that God's grace will just flow out as we speak about these things in truth. And then the final thing, what can we do to help those who are contemplating abortion? If you know a friend who find themselves thinking about this, please come alongside them. Please come alongside them for the sake of God's image in that child.

And it can be quite daunting. It could be that this girl might be very, very young. It could be that her family have already told her that we actually want you to have an abortion. Very often the father of the child would insist. We had a lady in Russia, I worked with her before I met her, before she was a Christian.

She had nine abortions, nine. She was a tennis player, and then she came to faith, and she and her husband had another child and her husband insisted that she abort him as well. Her husband wasn't a Christian so she said I cannot do that, I cannot do this. She lost her husband, He walked away from their marriage. Is that a price that we need to pay?

But I also just think, you know, isn't it sad that the world makes it so difficult to adopt a child, and yet so easy to abort a child? Isn't there a way that we maybe as Christians can think, how can we rather help that child to be in this world and come into a loving family instead of just to be aborted? I don't know the solution to this. I guess it's a lot of political-ing that needs to happen and difficult conversations, but can't we as a church stand up and say we have a solution? Wouldn't we rather look and care for young children and those mothers?

I pray that God will give us wisdom. I don't have the answers to the practical things, maybe you do, But our principles need to be right. We have to work from this principle that that child has already been known by God before the foundation of the earth. He or she is valuable beyond measure. They are image bearers of God.